Natural Born
by Hawkeye Raider
Summary: Death was sealed into Makoto, and this was the moment where he awakened. There's no more help from the Velvet Room, he's alone and probably the only thing that's good to him is the broken android that he found lying on the road. What're they going to do together then and in the future with SEES? Why, they're going to go and kick Shadow butt, of course!
1. Altered File

Aw fuck my head…

Every time that I tried to get up, my limbs protested with almost literal screams of pain. Well, except they would've been coming out my mouth, not actually my legs and arms. Do I care? I want to sit up, but it hurts too much to.

My head was throbbing like hell hit it two times and then kicked it around because he thought it would be funny. "Tartarus. What the hell happened?" I called out, trying to gather my wits. "Wait no. It was the fucking Reaper!"

I glared at the ceiling, hoping someone would freeze because of it.

Darn, I haven't explained anything.

Well okay. My name is Makoto Yuki. I'm 17 years old and have a weird eye and a weird hair colour (they're grey and blue, don't ask me why).

Currently I am on the floor of a place called Tartarus. It's basically the depths of Greek Hell come manifest in the Dark Hour, which occurs every midnight. That was really fast, but you know. Feel like I'm dying, not wanting to do anything.

"Diarahan…" I muttered, feeling the pain fade. A light glow fell and spread across my chest, washing the pain away like water across burns. Actually… I sat up, looking at my arms and legs. My sleeves and pants looked pretty burned. He must've been throwing Megidolaons at me to get burns like this. That might explain something… Welp, nothing to be done.

I stood up and brushed myself off of dust and ash. "Where am I?" I asked aloud. Well, from what I could tell, I was in the Adamah block. I groaned, rubbing my eyes to clear up my vision. It was the Adamah block, so it was like the walls were crystal. It was so fucking bright. The light, wherever it came from, reflected off the walls a million times and it just… every time you go on to a new floor, the place would blind you.

"Makoto. You're on the 251st floor. The transporter should be nearby. Be careful the next time you're up there," I heard a voice come through my communicator. I just chuckled in response and started running, trying to find my way to the nearest transporter.

And now I'll tell you about what happened a _long_ time before today. It'll be important, and long, and really fucking long, but listen! I swear it isn't boring. We'll come back here later.

…

It all started about ten years ago. Long time, yeah?

It was about this time I was going home with my parents from the new Port Island, across the Moonlight Bridge. It was all fine and dandy until suddenly everything turned green, all the people turned to coffins and it seemed as if time itself had stopped. It was the first day of the Dark Hour. I managed to stay awake. It seemed as if I was pretty much alone.

The car was damaged because well… a huge fucking black cloaked monster with an equally huge sword crashed into it, and it blew up in fire. I managed to get out before that, but my parents weren't so lucky. Not that I thought it at the time but it was at that moment I was officially an orphan. To be honest I never liked the word… it always sounded pretty lonely.

But no time to dwell on that, because the monster saw me. I could literally feel its glare piercing through my skin and sending prickly nervousness down my spine. I did the only common sense thing and ran the hell outta dodge.

It was fast though! It caught up to me, and backed me towards the railings. Because I tripped over and I was kinda trapped. Sue me. But outta nowhere… well, you know that onomatopoeia that people use for gunfire? It's like 'rat-tat-tat-tat' or something? Well yeah, that's what I heard.

The monster roared as if it was hella pissed, and turned towards the offending shooter. I couldn't tell from the distance, but whatever it was… it was white. What? That wasn't a good enough description? I'm sorry that I have shitty vision then! Bitch.

Welp, the monster's attention was on the white thing now, so it rushed towards it at blinding speed. I ran to see what was happening but close enough not to get involved. The white thing dodged the monster's sword swing and continued to fire at it. I could faintly hear a tinkling sound, maybe of shells bouncing off the asphalt.

I'm not exactly sure what happened next, but maybe it was because the white thing saw me. I had to cover my eyes shut because a blinding light filled my vision. Yanno, it kinda sounded like the damned Adamah Block when I put it that way. When I finally opened my eyes again… the monster was gone, and the white thing seemed to have collapsed on the ground.

I looked around, not seeing or hearing anything remotely threatening. Well, I thought it was safe. I ran over to the white thing, finding that it was definitely not something I'd have expected to see in real life. Maybe in one of those action mangas or something, but…

Anyways, it was a robot. Correction; _she_ was a robot. It looked like a girl, I mean. She had short blonde hair, pale skin tone for her face. I couldn't tell what her eyes were like yet, because they were closed. The rest of her body was white, while her fingers and 'feet' were black.

Curiously, I reached out to touch it. The white was smooth, almost like porcelain, but her face felt like a normal girl's. Her hair felt real too. I heard a strange whirring sound, seemingly coming from the robot.

Her eyes slowly opened. Maybe she was tired from fighting? Some parts of her body were slashed and crackling with electricity, while there appeared to be 'bruises' marked by dirt and black marks. I could finally see her eyes. They were so blue and so bright, I wasn't sure I had seen anything that seemed that blue.

Maybe I was being stupid at the time, but… well, I talked. "Are… are you okay?"

She stared at me for a while, as if she was trying to decipher what I was saying. "Am I… okay?" her voice was like a girl's, but it was stiff and robotic. Like I might've expected though. "I detect external injuries at a damage level of 78 per cent. I also detect internal injuries at a damage level of 89 per cent. Altogether, damage percentage of approximately 83."

"That doesn't sound… okay," I replied. I wondered what to do about it all. It wasn't like I knew how to fix a robot or anything. That was crazy! What's even more crazy is that I'm considering this in the first place! I looked at her 'wounds' and placed my hand gently near. She seemed to flinch, as if a person would if someone was touching some place that hurt. "I'm sorry!" I said quickly, but she just shook her head.

"Apologies are not required," she replied.

Oh… I wish I could do something about it though. I _wished_. As if on cue, a light glow surrounded my hand where it was touching, and the light seemed to seal the wound. But I had no idea what the hell was happening at the time. "W-What was that!?" I exclaimed.

The robot seemed to be surprised too. She didn't seem to have an idea either. "Damage levels now at 75 per cent."

"W-Wait… you feel better?" I said, looking at my hand. I felt kinda drained after that, but… "U-Um…" I moved my hands to just hover above her body, and tried to do that glowing thing again. The light from before appeared, but this time it covered everything. As my energy drained, more and more of the wounds disappeared until there were almost none left and I was dead tired.

"Damage levels… 27 per cent," she noted. "You managed to heal me."

"…what was that…?" I mumbled.

"Your spiritual energy levels are nearly depleted. I detect you used nearly 20 energy levels," she said, sitting up.

"Spiritual power? Huh?" I shook my head, not understanding.

"Yes," she nodded. "Unfortunately, my alert systems were not repaired… so I cannot contact my creators…"

"Oh, uh… okay. U-Um… maybe we should… go… I don't know where. But I don't know if we can talk about this weird stuff here. It's so weird and scary and…" I looked back to the car I had escaped from earlier, which was now up in flames. "My parents…" Well, if I'd thought about it now, I'd have articulated it like… 'Fuck! My parents are dead!'

"They're…" But back then, I couldn't even get out the words. I knew what they were, but at the time I couldn't just accept it and leave it at that. I mean back then I was SEVEN. Not seventeen. I probably just couldn't even handle it at the time. So much so, that I couldn't even get any tears out. After a while I'd realised I'd gone silent.

"They are… no longer alive," she said coolly, observing the flaming car. "I see. I am sorry. I have failed."

"Failed?" I blinked. "What do you mean…?"

"My duty as an Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon is to destroy all Shadows. I failed to do that in time, before any more casualties occurred. For that, I have failed," she said. "The opponent was much too powerful."

I looked to her with pleading eyes, imploring her to explain what the heck was going on. I was more confused than I could be angry or sad. So many things happened that I didn't understand… "I will explain to you as best as possible. After that, I will decide… what I should do."

So many questions that I just wanted answers to. "Where are we going to go?"

"If I am seen… it would cause panic," she said. So… a place where there isn't anyone? I wanted to go home, truthfully. I wanted to sort out everything that had happened. The only place I could think of was home. Back then, maybe it just didn't _really_ register that my parents were dead, but that was what I suggested. "I see. No-one would see us, unless they came inside the building. I comprehend."

I looked at her curiously, and led her back along the bridge. "Follow me?" I said unsurely.

"Yes. I do not know where this place is," she answered.

I looked up at her and grasped her hand before starting to run ahead. She seemed wordless as I tried to run. But I was so small and so tired out already that I couldn't run very fast after a while, and that was even before I could reach the end of the bridge. "You are fatigued…"

"Wah!" She picked me up and started running herself. I held on tightly, wondering what to do. "I'll tell you where to go…" I mumbled.

"I comprehend," she replied.

"What's your name?" I asked curiously.

"I am the last of the seventh generations of anti-shadow suppression weapons. My assigned name… is Aigis." It was that kind of speech that told me she was really a robot.

"I'm… I'm Makoto Yuki," I said quietly. "Nice to meet you, Aigis-san."

Her eyes glowed faintly, as I said my name and she eventually said, "Affirmative. Nice to meet you too, Makoto-san." With that, Aigis seemed to speed on past the bridge.

"Turn right." Aigis didn't even miss a beat, and turned at the next intersection. "Keep going past that crossing… then turn left." The ride was bumpy, but she was a lot faster than I was. "We're getting closer," I pointed out. "You see that side street?" Aigis nodded back. "Go there, and then take another left. Then we're there…"

"Affirmative," Aigis responded.

It wasn't long until we stopped in front of my house. "This is it," I pointed out. Aigis let me down and placed me on my feet. After all of that, my legs felt like jelly, like everything had just flown away from my body and didn't bother to come back. But somehow, I stumbled over to the gate that stood before a path to the door. It was at this point, I knew I wasn't thinking things through properly.

Key. It would've been nice… if I had one… I fumbled about my pocket, finding my spare keys. I had them just in case I got lost or something and I needed to get back home. And right now… well, it was an emergency. I could barely hold onto them without dropping it onto the floor. That was how tired and shaky I was.

"Do you require assistance?" Aigis asked, following me to the doorstep where I stood. I wasn't really sure how she could help me to be honest.

"I'm… I'm okay. I'm just tired," I said quietly. I leaned against the doorframe and placed my key into the doorknob, then secondly into the double lock.

"Perhaps I shall explain to you at another time. It appears you need to rest," she observed.

I wanted to know what happened so badly, but my eyelids were protesting like they hadn't before. I haven't stayed up this late in forever. "U-Um… okay," I mumbled. I left my shoes at the entrance and walked slowly to my bedroom.

To my surprise, Aigis followed me. "Why're you following me?" I asked.

"My highest priority is to be with you," she said simply.

What does it mean? I really shouldn't think about it now. But she's going to follow me? It was kinda strange. But… I think at the time, I must've felt scared and alone. I didn't say anything and just let her do what she wanted. I couldn't even bother changing into proper clothes and just fell onto my bed. Tired, scared, confused. Alone.

The thought was not to last, however. From the corner of my eye I saw Aigis looking at me intently. I turned over and looked at her curiously. What did she want?

"Makoto-san. Can I stay here?" Aigis asked.

No, I wasn't really thinking at the time, before you ask. I looked up at her on the verge of tears. The thoughts had finally crashed into my mind and I couldn't think of nothing else but getting comfort. "Yes."

She nodded back and sat in a chair next to the bed. I looked for a while, not able to find any semblance of sleep. I was too tired to sleep, and too tired to do anything else. I couldn't help it. I needed someone. Anyone. _Anything_.

"Makoto-san?" Aigis was surprised as I wrapped my arms around her. It wasn't my mother, but it just felt like it was. Someone close. I remembered I just cried into her shoulder for a while, hugging her tightly, telling her not to disappear.

Aigis didn't understand. She was a robot. And it was unlikely that her creators ever tried something like _hugging_ her of all things. But after many minutes, when I was too tired to see that the creepy greenness had faded, she had wrapped her arms around me too. At the time I didn't know whether she understood what it meant to me. I doubt it.

And you know? I didn't really mind it. I ended up falling asleep after my tears had dried up.

…

On the next morning, I found myself where I was last night. Aigis seemed to have closed her eyes into a similar sleep mode as well. I thought then that maybe robots needed sleep too. Seven year old kid. Come on.

When I started to move, her eyes opened to that piercing blue gaze again. "Makoto-san," she said.

"U-Um…" I separated from her and sat on my bed. "Good morning," I said nervously.

"Good… morning?" she said, tilting her head.

"Y-Yeah… my parents said you should say that to people in the morning because… it's polite," I managed to say. There was some part of me that was hoping everything I had seen then was a dream, but after waking up to Aigis? There was no mistaking it. But it was something I didn't have tears for.

"I… I comprehend. Good morning, Makoto-san," Aigis said with the slightest of smiles. I haven't seen a smile from her before. It looked pretty.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Makoto-san. There is something of great importance stored in my databases that seem to be pertinent to now," Aigis said. I gave her a concerned expression, wondering what she meant. "The police are likely investigating the accident at the bridge. If they find the deceased, they will likely come here."

The police? No, seven year old self hadn't thought about that. Thinking about it now, it felt like they should've come even earlier anyways. "T-The police…? What are they going to do?"

"I do not know, Makoto-san," she replied. "But this place may not stay safe for long. They will likely separate me from you."

"B-But…! I don't want to! Y-You're… you're the only one… I have left…" I shouted, eventually trailing off as the full reality of the situation was starting to hit me. My parents were gone. They might go looking for survivors. If I was a kid… they might send me somewhere. They might separate me from… the only one that has stayed with me.

Aigis's irises seemed to recede for a moment but she nodded back anyways. "You… would like to stay with me?"

"Yes."

"Then… we should leave," Aigis said. "If you want to stay together with me, like I would you, then we must go."

"And… leave this place behind?" I said, looking around my room.

"Affirmative," she replied.

"O-Oh… okay…" I nodded slowly.

Wanna know something interesting? It's not illegal for someone to go missing. If they leave on their own and go off the grid, then that's their choice. But people usually are found because there are people that want to know where they are, and they have the police try to find them.

Also the funny thing about this is that I agreed without really thinking it through properly. There are a lot of problems other than just people finding us. There was also the problem of food, water… identification, getting a job, finding some other place to stay… many. Many problems.

How to solve that? Well, we didn't really, that's the answer.

"I do not know what to suggest… but perhaps you should take supplies, while we look for somewhere to stay," Aigis said. You see? Aigis had no idea what the hell to do, really. It wasn't as if she was experienced in the outside world. Haha.

"Right," I nodded, opening the door and running to gather a lot of things. Probably more than I ever needed in my life. They were the kind of things that a kid would think was necessary on a long journey. It's about when you hit the tween years where you're just not really sure to say that a person is childish or that they'd know what they were doing.

Ultimately, many of the things that I first thought of were left behind. I did take a lot of sentimental stuff. I still have them now, actually! Other than that was just some food and drinks. It was a good thing that I didn't have to pack for two people. I was a little bitter about leaving some of the electronic stuff behind, but I decided that we might get some more later. Phones and DS consoles were everywhere after all. Aigis said that she could carry the things I picked out, since the bag did end up being a bit heavy.

"We should stay hidden," she noted. "Please hold on," Aigis instructed. Like before, she scooped me up into her arms, carrying me near effortlessly. She must've been strong… well, with her strength as a robot and stuff, I guess it made sense.

We were mainly just staying out of sight and ended up stopping at an empty side street some minutes later. "If I detect more people coming within 5 metres of our hiding spot, I will move," she said. "I shall now explain to you what I know of last night."

"O-Okay…" I said nervously.

She started straight away, pretty much. "The Dark Hour is the phenomena you experienced last night. That is the first time it has occurred, so there is precious little information about it.

"The monster you encountered was an extremely powerful being of its kind; a Shadow. They are dangerous, but people do not normally see them. There were not originally many, but they have multiplied in number," she explained. She was saying so much in one go that I couldn't get a word in.

"I am an Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon, designed to destroy Shadows," Aigis continued. "I am the last of the seventh generation of weapons. We are designed so that we can invoke the powers of something called a Persona."

"Persona?" I said curiously.

She nodded an affirmative. "Ah, I detect a presence…" Aigis said shortly before escaping down the side street with me.

"P-Persona?" I said shakily.

"Persona is the manifestation of one's psyche. Supposedly it can be invoked by certain individuals to confront problems and endure hardships," Aigis explained. "They enable people to fight against Shadows. They grant a number of different powers, but strength is dependent on the user's mental faculties."

"You mean… that spiritual energy thing you mentioned before?" I asked unsurely. It was still hard to even believe this kind of thing existed.

Aigis stopped and put me down. "Yes… it appears that night you were given the potential to summon a Persona. I do not know why. I do sense that your power is exceptionally vast. That I do not know a reason for either."

"Really…?" I looked down at my hands. Somehow I did heal her earlier. Maybe that had something to do with it? Why was I considering this? Argh! What's wrong with me?

"Yes. That is all I know, however," Aigis said.

"Hey…" I mumbled.

"Makoto-san?"

"What happened when that light flashed? Then the monster disappeared," I asked.

Aigis gazed at me slowly. "I was unable to defeat the Shadow. I sealed it away. Within you."

"What?" I blinked. Was she kidding? She had to be kidding!

"Yes. I had no other choice. If I was stronger, then maybe I could have destroyed the Shadow. But I could not. I could not risk any more damage either… so I sealed it, in you," she explained.

I had no idea what to think. I was conflicted. On one hand, I didn't want to be left alone, but at the same time I couldn't think of what she did as a good thing. Hell, the way I'm putting it now is really complicated. The question was whether I wanted to stay with her or not.

But the thing was, I couldn't just leave her alone either…

"And… after that, I could heal you," I said, locking my fists. "I don't like what you did…"

Aigis didn't respond, but just nodded. "I…I just…" I couldn't get angry. I had no energy to. The reasons didn't really justify the actions, but at the same time I just…

"Makoto-san…" she mumbled.

For a while, I thought and thought and thought about how I felt about last night. I was angry, sad, less confused, but still confused as a ten year old could be in a suddenly crueller world than he could have ever imagined. I had heard of bad stuff before like human trafficking and rape, not knowing what they meant at the time. But people close to me dying at the time was simply a new low that I hadn't wanted to experience.

We stopped to eat, even though it was just me eating. "I do not require sustenance like you do," she insisted. "You should eat."

That was what she said when I tried to give her food. I mean, I know robots don't usually eat like people do, but… oh, I don't know. When she was by my side I couldn't help but think of her as someone, a human, close to me.

Maybe it was then that I decided that I just couldn't help what had happened and silently accepted my circumstances. There wasn't much to do.

Midnight struck again. I was so tired then, just because I never normally stayed up that late. "Makoto-san… I think I have found a place we can stay," Aigis pointed out.

She looked as the Dark Hour began. The moon rose high into the sky surrounded by sickly green and faint clouds. What I didn't see was this; a tower, so strange and lopsided yet so mechanised, whose apex pierced the centre of the yellow moon behind it.

"What… what is that place?" I said, bewildered at the sight. I was scared to even think of going into such a strange place, but… there was another part of me, I thought… and it wanted me to go there.

Aigis was only silent, seemingly scanning it. She called my name briefly and then carried me all the way to the tower. I got closer and closer, zipping past the Moonlight Bridge and watching the building grow before my eyes.

The wind was thick with blood and started to breathe through my mouth. Breathing the smell made me want to puke, and I wasn't ready to empty my stomach contents onto the blacktop as she ran. "I detect human presences at the building."

"W-What? People?" I looked around, just seeing the coffins. That happened last night too. Is it going to happen again then? Why?

"Yes. People. Not like the coffins," Aigis said.

It felt like my heart dropped into my stomach, and pounded uncomfortably there. I wasn't sure what to think. I didn't know who they were. "I cannot detect them clearly. However, I feel that they may be familiar."

Did Aigis know them? I became more and more unsure.

A few minutes passed and we ended up in front of some gates. I could see the tower, and it stretched up in the sky. From where I was, it looked like it went on forever into the greenness. "Hold on tightly," Aigis instructed. Not sure what was going to happen, but not wanting to be hurt, I held onto one of her arms.

Whoosh!

My heartbeat which up until then had just sunk lower and lower as we got closer leapt into the back of my throat. Aigis jumped over the gate, running towards the entrance of the tower. "W-Where… are we going?" I asked.

"I have not registered this place before," Aigis replied. She didn't know either. Somehow, having someone not knowing either made me feel a bit better.

She opened the door and walked inside…

Finding many people gathered. Lots of them were dressed in lab coats while some were dressed in suits. They looked important.

Aigis put me down, seemingly registering each of the people there. They heard us, and they turned towards us. They looked surprised. Some of them looked happy. Some less so.

"It's the missing ASW!" one of the people in lab coats exclaimed.

"What is it doing here?" Aigis wasn't an 'it'…

"More importantly, who is with her?"

I backed away behind Aigis, not sure what to do. "I am Aigis. My signal functions were damaged, so I could not contact the engineers."

"But… you seem to be alright," a gruff voice spoke, parting the crowd of lab coats and suits.

"Makoto-san helped me," she replied.

"Makoto-san?" the man said, seemingly surprised. He was wearing an eye patch over one eye and was dressed in dark coloured clothes, including a coat and pants. Underneath, he had a white collared shirt.

I came out from behind Aigis, looking at her worriedly. She didn't seem perturbed by the men and nodded. "He's… he's just a boy." You know, I can't exactly argue with that. I am actually a pretty immature person.

"He has the potential. He healed me when I would've otherwise sustained serious damage," Aigis explained.

"He was the potential… to summon a Persona?" I heard some people in the background mutter.

I backed behind Aigis again, not really sure how to respond, or even whether I should respond at all.

"…I believe this should be looked into thoroughly," the gruff man said. What did he mean?

"He no longer has any parents," Aigis said as the man turned.

He stopped in his tracks and looked back at me with a slight frown. I doubted he was angry or anything, but it was still kinda scary being looked at like that. "Makoto-san. Follow me."

I looked back at Aigis unsurely, but she just stood strong.

What was I getting into? I have no idea.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hi guys. Due warning. This is an OP Minato fic, with possible moments where things don't make sense (in which I will throw together an explanation quickly), lots of sarcastic humour and MinAigis fun (yes, I like Minato and Aigis too). If you don't want to read that, then better get outta here quickly.<strong>

**Welp, now if anyone remembers NTL, Rising and Heat Rising? All of which sucked, by the way. Then people who liked those should be good with this. I think.**

**No, I'm not confident about this. Because of how messed up the storyline was before this, I got tired of trying to continue them. I'm going to try and salvage this.**

**My pathetic attempts to warn you people got through now? Hopefully. **

**If you want to stick through this, then sure. But expect many delays.**

**Please box your thoughts and I'll see you later.**


	2. Rewiring The System

I followed after him, and it just seemed like he was walking to the back of the room where the others couldn't hear. I could still hear the other people, and they were talking about Aigis. I didn't like how they referred to her. They used some codes and numbers that I didn't understand, and always referred to her as a weapon. It wasn't as if she was just that…

But he interrupted my train of thought. "My name is Takeharu Kirijo," he began. "I am the current leader of the Kirijo group."

The Kirijo group? I didn't know what they were. "The… Kirijo group?" I parroted.

Takeharu nodded sternly. "The Kirijo group is responsible for the construction of Port Island and is the reason why the Dark Hour exists," he continued. What? I wasn't sure how to react. One, I couldn't figure out how they could be responsible for the Dark Hour of all things. Two, if what he was saying was true, I couldn't figure out whether I felt angry or resigned to the whole thought.

"The Kirijo group is…?" I looked up at him, wondering what it all meant.

"Hm…" He seemed to be in thought. "What is your name?"

Now he was asking for my name? "M-Makoto Yuki…" I mumbled.

Takeharu was thinking a lot. I didn't know at the time what he was thinking about though. "Your parents were reported to have passed away in that accident last night. I apologise, on the behalf of the Kirijo group."

"I… um… well, it doesn't really… matter," I murmured. When someone was dead, they were dead, and there wasn't a way for them to come back to life. Not unless it was in one of those fantasy novels or something else. I did hate thinking about the situation like that, but that was the reality of it all, wasn't it?

"Makoto…kun." Why was he calling me 'kun' now? I don't know him… Should I trust him, or not? "It does matter."

"Why?"

Takeharu didn't seem inclined to answer. His brow furrowed, and he gave a heavy sigh. "Makoto-kun. I do not know what you are thinking of now… but you cannot simply go on without people to support you," he said. And Takeharu seemed to know what he was talking about. "Ideally, you would temporarily be sent to an orphanage and then live with any relatives or close friends of your parents who would take you in and raise-"

"B-But… I don't want to!" I blurted that out. Takeharu seemed surprised for a moment, but his stony look quickly set in again. "I-I… I want to stay with Aigis-san…"

"Aigis…" Takeharu looked back to the scene of the men in coats and suits, along with Aigis.

"I don't… want her to go… not like them," I said.

He turned back to me quickly. "Not like your parents… I see…" Takeharu closed his eyes (at least, the one I could see) in thought. "This is… a highly unusual situation. I hadn't thought of the possibility that someone could get attached to someone like her."

"She's not just a someone," I mumbled.

Takeharu gazed at me. I thought I saw the smallest twitch of a smile, but maybe I was just imagining it. "You're right," he said after a while. "Makoto-kun. You wish to stay with Aigis?" I nodded back slowly. "Well then… when the Dark Hour ends, I will see what I can do."

Funny thing about this? The Kirijo group controlled pretty much the whole area of Port Island and Iwatodai. As in, if he wanted to do anything… well, almost anything, he could because the Kirijo group had such an influence. Not that seven year old me knew that, but I decided to trust him.

He walked back with me to the group of lab coats and suits, and they stopped talking upon his approach. I wasn't sure whether to move or not. The people kept staring at me and it was unsettling. "Status report," Takeharu said.

"It has only been at a damage percentage of 27 per cent. Aigis will only need some fine-tuning to be back to normal," one of the men said. "Components damaged include the black box, gun barrels and some of the joints which need to be refined. However sir, I did see something strange."

"What is that?" he replied, gazing at the man intently.

"You see, there has been some unseen behaviour… in the Papillion Heart," he said. "It doesn't appear to be anything dangerous, but further research is required."

Takeharu gave a grunt in acknowledgement. "We should leave soon. The Dark Hour is approaching its end," he said.

Aigis nodded and joined my side. We went out of the tower, while the rest followed. I could hear murmurings about how Aigis was interacting differently, and they were suggesting different reasons why.

"Aigis-san?" I asked. "A-Are… you okay?"

"Yes. They were merely performing maintenance tests," she answered. Aigis sounded okay with it, so I decided to leave it at that.

After a while, the Dark Hour disappeared and everything turned back to normal. "What's going to happen now?" I asked quietly.

"I am 73 per cent certain that Takeharu-san has something in mind," Aigis replied.

"Makoto-kun," Takeharu said from behind. I looked back and faced him. "Please come with me. Unfortunately Aigis cannot come with us, since she needs further fine tuning until she's repaired," he said.

"Oh… okay," I mumbled, looking back at Aigis.

"I will be alright, Makoto-san. My repairs should not take long. I estimate 37 hours and 48 minutes until I am fully repaired," Aigis reassured.

A day and a half? The way she said it, made it seem like the wait was going to be longer than I thought. I gave a small nod and turned back to Takeharu. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see, soon enough," he said. Again, I thought I saw the smallest smile on his face, but it disappeared as quickly as I saw it. Takeharu walked to a black limousine, but I hesitated in following him. I was going to go somewhere in _that_? Whoa! He turned back and beckoned me over. I guess I should go?

Eventually we were seated inside, but I felt so out of place. The Kirijo Group must be really rich… if they can afford a limo, then they must be really important. It was nearly silent in there. Takeharu seemed to be thinking about a lot of stuff, and I didn't have much to do but think and ask questions about what was going to happen to me.

I think I was afraid of what might happen. Scared…

I think you always feel scared when you don't know if someone can control your situation. I think I just thought about things for a while. I didn't bother looking out the windows.

After a while, the hum of the car stopped and Takeharu opened the door outside. I guessed I was supposed to follow him again, and I got out after him. I didn't expect to see a mansion though. It was really big and I don't know if I can explain just how impressive it was. It was tall, and from what I could see, it was largely cream coloured. Windows lined the walls, and I had to think there were about three stories in the building. The bottom had perfectly trimmed hedges that ran along the perimeter of the building… I looked behind the limo, and I even saw a fountain. The water was coming from the mouth of a lion, but it was weird because it had bird-like back feet and a lizard's tail. Was it a chimera or something?

"This is the Kirijo mansion," Takeharu said. This place was his house? I don't know if I could live in someplace that was this grand. It was overwhelming for me. "Come Makoto-kun. This is where you'll stay for now, until we can work out some way for this situation to be resolved," he beckoned me to the steps that led to the front door.

They even had rows of stairs leading to the porch. "U-Um… okay," I replied meekly.

Without another word, I followed Takeharu through the mansion, passing near countless rooms as I walked. Then, he stopped in front of one door at the end of the hall. "This is one of the vacant rooms here. Just try to get some sleep," he said. Takeharu opened it, showing the room inside. It was cream coloured again, large enough to contain a couch, table, TV and bed all at the same time. I'd never seen a room so big. It looked like the size of my lounge at home. Not a bedroom.

"O-Okay…" I mumbled once more, apprehensive to go inside.

He gave a small grunt, seemingly waiting for me to enter properly. I walked in slowly in the direction of the bed. "Good night, Makoto-kun," he said lowly before leaving the room.

Takeharu closed the door quietly behind me. I immediately turned to look back at the door. I didn't want to be alone… I knew it was only for one night, but still. I didn't feel good about it. The room had a sense of loneliness in it. It felt kind of cold, but I couldn't figure out why.

Regardless, I tried walking myself over to the bed, just finding the plain scent of laundry liquid in my nose. It was nothing that felt like home. I took off my shoes and crawled into the blanket, trying to find a place to get warm. Eventually I switched the lights off. I couldn't sleep though. I was just staring into the darkness.

It was just like that for a while, waiting for my eyes to start stinging from just staring all the time. I guess some minutes later were when tears to make my eyes moist again started to form. I squeezed them shut, along with the small globules. They started to trail down my cheeks and over the bridge of my nose into the pillow, making the surface uncomfortably damp. I just couldn't move or stop crying now. Once it started it was like the beginning of a waterfall. They just wouldn't stop forming, and by now the crying was for a completely different reason than when I started.

I hugged it tightly, wishing there was someone. Anyone. Anyone who could stay with me. I just felt so alone. Lonely. It felt like I couldn't rely on anyone else. I wanted someone who I could share everything with. After all the exciting things, I had just been holding every bit of sadness and grief inside my chest until it burst.

Just letting everything out. I was so focused on that. I was too busy letting my tears fall that I didn't recognise at the time that tiny, so small you almost couldn't hear them sobs were barrelling out my throat. "Mum and dad… why'd you leave me alone…? Why? Why!?"

My fist collided against the softness as I cursed the whole situation, not even stopping to avoid damning my own parents in the process. At that time I didn't care whether or not it was their fault, the Kirijo group's fault, Aigis' fault, or even that monster that I saw. I just cursed everything. It was a mixture of anger, sadness… I guess you might call it anguish. Really it was any hellish, kind of mental torture that involved hate and blame.

I also didn't know when it was I fell asleep. I think it was only light, considering how much I was stressing, but I couldn't remember if there were any dreams or not. If there were, my brain's probably keeping me from it, or I really just forgot about it.

When I cried, I had no idea whether it helped or not. It was senseless. There was no control. Maybe that was why I was so angry and so sad. I couldn't control what was happening to me. The events were being rapid fired at me like bullets peppering scenes via a machine gun. They didn't stop, and they certainly never gave more or less pain than the first wound.

"Yuki-sama?" I heard someone knocking on the door. I couldn't recognise who it was and I didn't want to get up. If I did, I had to continue trying to get my bearings. I probably wouldn't get them until later too, considering I was just a kid. There was pretty much no way that they would give the control of such a major situation to a little kid like I was then. Probably not now either, but… Well, I just threaten people with a knife so I can get what I want. I kid. I'm not a criminal in that sense.

I registered the door opening and his footsteps. "I'm afraid that you have to get up, Yuki-san. Takeharu-sama is waiting for you." It wasn't who I thought it would be… but then again, I couldn't picture him as someone who would wake their own kid up. It was someone who looked like a butler or servant of some kind.

"O-Okay…" I managed to get out. I was afraid though, that it just came out as a mess of word. I wasn't even sure if I knew what I was saying myself at the time. I struggled to get out from the warmth of the blankets, and the person seemed to be patiently waiting for me. "Sorry for… making you wait," I mumbled as I put my socks and shoes on.

"It is perfectly fine, Yuki-sama," he smiled. Looking then, I was pretty sure that he might've meant it too. "It wouldn't do well if you got yourself lost inside the mansion, would it?"

"Yeah… um, why are you calling me like that?" I asked. At first he appeared to look puzzled, but his smile from earlier returned.

"All guests and residents must be treated with utmost respect," he replied.

"O-Oh…" I looked at the ground. I wasn't used to being called 'sama' at all. It was so strange. Once again, I was just becoming more and more confused by the minute.

"Come along now," he said. "Breakfast is being served."

I nodded slowly back and followed him, albeit slowly than his pace. The prim atmosphere still lingered, and again, I felt out of place. Even the butlers and the maids were dressed well… "Here we are," the butler gestured to a pair of tall, wooden doors. He opened it for me, and inside was a hall of some kind. It was big, and windows lined the walls so you could see from almost every angle outside. There was a large table in the middle, seemingly made from the same wood of the doors. The chairs were similarly made.

"Ah, Makoto-kun," Takeharu said, turning to me. "Come."

I looked back to the servant from before, but he just smiled warmly at me. He seemed to silently be urging me on. Nervously, I made my way over, almost trying to distract myself with the surroundings. "Did you sleep well?" he asked. I was about to answer with a 'no', but I stopped myself. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to reply like that. Takeharu's stern expression softened when he saw me hesitating. "Makoto-kun, I would like you to meet someone."

Walking over, I could see who he was looking at. It was a girl with curly, red hair. But it wasn't the kind of garish, bright red. It was more like… I guess it was kind of like the colour of a red rose? She had fair skin, and same coloured eyes. "This is Mitsuru, my daughter."

She spoke, "Pleased to meet you." When Mitsuru looked at me, her gaze was… it was strangely something… difficult to describe. On one hand, she was a kid like me at the time, so I guess now I'd say she was cute. On the other, it looked like she was staring into my soul. She had a kind of cold, dignified kind of aura that froze the air around her.

"H-Hello," I bowed shakily. "I-I'm Makoto Yuki…"

Mitsuru regarded me with a small nod before having finished the last of her breakfast. "Father, may I go now?" she asked.

"You may," he replied. With that, she exited the dining hall, but not before giving me a small nod. "She won't be busy later," Takeharu said. "Mitsuru's quite a sheltered child. I feel it may be wise to give her some other experience other than just keeping to his mansion…" He turned to me with his usually stern expression. "I believe this should be a good time to explain."

"Explain what?" I asked.

"You see… I decided that since you wanted to see Aigis so much… the Kirijo fam- No. I took custody of you," he said.

"What does that mean?" I looked concernedly at him.

"It means that I would be your new parent," he said, turning towards the windows. Takeharu seemed like he didn't want to see what my reaction was. "I know that I cannot replace your father… I'd rather that you didn't think of me like that at all. Let us just say that I will look after you."

"R-Really?" I said, nearly at a loss for words. I wasn't sure how to feel. Takeharu put it probably the best way. He wasn't my dad, but he was going to look after me. But at least, it meant that I'd get to see Aigis again. That was the whole reason he did it, right?

"Yes. Now, I have a meeting to attend," he said, turning back to me. "You're free to roam around the mansion. Aigis should be visiting later this afternoon." With that, Takeharu started towards the doors just like Mitsuru did.

"What about school?" I asked. I think I might've surprised myself for managing to think of something like that.

"You will have to make do without school for a while. From now on, you will be taught instead by a personal tutor, just like Mitsuru," Takeharu said as he stopped at the door. "Goodbye Makoto-kun." With that, he left the room.

So many thoughts were whirling about in my head. First was even considering that Takeharu took me in. I still wasn't sure what to think, even though I'd gone over it in my head so many times. The second thing was… well, I never had a personal tutor before. I'd just go to school, and I had a lot of friends there. But to be separated from all of that? I think at the time it felt like everything that had been my old life was getting thrown into the trash as if the things from it were worthless. I was being forced, very quickly, to have to adapt to something I wasn't sure I wanted.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Further warnings? Why not. <strong>

**When Minato is older and gets older, he likes to swear a lot. Swearing actually helps to relieve stress and increases your pain tolerance. He also interjects when he's telling his own story with quips because… well, even he thinks seven year old self was a bit hard to understand at times. That's why the tenses change sometimes when he's interjecting.**

**I'll reply to reviews via PM so… that means the AN is gonna be a bit empty unless there are guests reviewing and stuff. **

**Another warning… this story is mostly for me to feel better about my writing. If you wanna read something more thought out, go to Whispers in the Dark or Persona Blue, or whatever you wanna read. **

**If you want to say this story is bad, then don't say I didn't warn you.**

**Welp, toodles, plz box yo thoughts and I'll see you later.**


	3. Stirring Up Vengeance

Somehow, I had to get used to everything that was being thrown at me. Getting used to a new place, I guess new parents… I think overall it was just a different kind of life. The butler from before did nearly everything I'd ask for, like just bringing me food and stuff. The personal tutor also showed up later. She was nice and taught me well. It was a lot better than any teacher at school I'd had. But it wasn't anything I really looked forward to. There was pretty much nothing I looked forward to.

Not when you spent every waking night crying yourself to sleep without someone to comfort you. Eventually I did stop crying too, when it just seemed I had no tears. I felt like I was becoming deader by the day. My chest ached, almost like when a starving person had hunger pangs. But it didn't hurt because I was hungry. It just hurt because I was hungry for someone. Hungry for some kind of change out of this mess I'd somehow gotten trapped in.

I think this weird feeling in my chest helped me see something that I never could before. Something almost terrifying. The times when I was listless in my bed, thinking about my sadness and anger again and again like trying to recycle old paper over and over. Eventually, it just didn't work anymore.

The times when my feelings reached the lowest point. That was probably when I saw it.

I heard a small voice at the back of my head. It spoke words of anger… but most of all, it was determined. I wasn't sure what it was talking about most of the time. It was always very quiet, and sometimes I just didn't understand what it was saying. The meaning of his words.

When I heard it, that voice. It sounded like a man, older than me. He spoke about changing my destiny and things like that. I wasn't sure how it could relate to me at the time… but I think I could begin to, somehow…

"Makoto-kun. What's wrong?" Takeharu asked. It was one of the rare times that he was around for dinner. I sat near Mitsuru, but we never usually talked since she ate quite slowly. I always finished before her. It was just us three in the hall.

But this time, I was just thinking so much about the words that the voice was saying that I wasn't eating. I looked up slightly at him and shrugged a little. Mitsuru seemed to be looking at me curiously now. She was starting to beat me. I think she thought it was strange.

"Takeharu-san…" I started, the words small out my mouth. "I've been… hearing a voice. In my head. I don't know what it is."

"A voice? Hm… go on," he said. I felt the atmosphere growing heavier with tension. I didn't know why that was, but I explained as best as I could.

"There's a voice at the back of my head when I'm trying to go to sleep… and when I'm feeling really down, I hear it talking to me," I said.

Takeharu pursed his lips, looking at Mitsuru briefly before turning back to me. "What does it say?"

"It says… I should change my own destiny. That's what it says," I replied. "I don't know what it means…"

"Aigis said that you had the potential to summon a Persona before," Takeharu mused aloud. "Perhaps this is a manifestation of that potential."

"This is… similar to what you had spoken to me about before, is it not?" Mitsuru asked. It surprised me a little bit, but I guess she might've known about this kind of stuff. Especially if Takeharu was her father and all.

"Yes. The Persona that manifests as a result of going through hardship. A mask of sorts," he explained briefly. "I believe that this Persona, whatever it is… I believe that it is telling you to stay strong and speaking your innermost desires."

"My innermost desires?" I parroted. "Why would it…?" I trailed off as I thought. If it was saying what I wanted and I felt like I wanted the same… what does it mean? Do I want to change what's been happening to me?

"You function quite normally in the Dark Hour," Takeharu noted. "Already your Persona is showing signs of awakening…" He seemed to be thinking really hard, but he just shook his head without another word.

My Persona…? I still didn't really understand what he was saying or what he was thinking of. "What are you thinking about?" I asked meekly.

Takeharu looked to me with a furrowed brow. "It is none of your concern."

Why was he avoiding the subject? I looked to Mitsuru who was just looking between the two of us with concerned eyes. "It is though," I replied lowly.

At that, he didn't seem any more inclined to speak. "Even if it is, I cannot tell you."

"Why?" Takeharu said not a word after that. "You won't tell me…" I decided aloud. I stood up and sighed, walking my way back to… my room. I brushed my teeth and soon curled up in my bed, starting to cry again like all the other nights. It was the same reason. But this time I was more confused and frustrated rather than sad.

After a while I had to fall asleep though. My mind was pitch black in deep sleep. But, I faintly heard someone come into my room. The footsteps were heavy. It was probably Takeharu. "Makoto-kun," I heard him say. He sat on the side of the bed. When he sat there, it felt as if it was my dad putting me to sleep. But I knew it wasn't him. I was awake then, and I squeezed my eyes shut. I knew it wasn't my dad because he wasn't alive any more. "The reason I didn't want to tell you… I'm afraid that if I told you, you would be placed in a situation where you would never be safe."

"I wouldn't be safe…?" I mumbled, turning over to look at his silhouette in the darkness.

"You have a similar spirit to Mitsuru," he chuckled. "If I told you that with your powers, you could be able to fight and perhaps try to end this accursed hour… you would probably want to, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah… I want to know what happened…" I replied. If I knew what happened, if I knew how to end whatever had been the source of my sadness, if I knew… so many things. I think I understood now that my parents were gone for good. I'd admitted it to myself a lot, but it still hurt to know that they were gone.

"I see… Makoto-kun. Aigis is going to continue fighting. Now, all of our efforts are being diverted to trying to end this unnatural phenomenon. We may not feel its full effects yet," Takeharu explained. "The scientists want to explore the tower that we had been in before. But there are many monsters inside, so it is impossible for us to conduct a full search on it."

"Monsters?" I asked.

"Yes. They are beings called Shadows," he said. "They are much like the monster that killed your parents." I couldn't think of anything else to say. Shadows. Was that what the monster was? It was so scary… and there were more of them like that? "They can only be defeated by Persona users," Takeharu continued.

"Like me?"

There was some silence. "Yes. People like you, Aigis… and my daughter, Mitsuru. There could yet be others out there that we don't know about too," Takeharu said. He didn't sound very happy about it. But then I realised… both of the people he mentioned were kids. Mitsuru and I were kids. Mitsuru was _his_ kid. And I… I think he considers me his kid too. "To be perfectly honest, I do not want the either of you involved. Those Shadows… they're dangerous. I don't want you anywhere near them. I do not want you to bear a burden that isn't even yours to begin with.

"But I don't think that will stop you now that you know," he said. Takeharu chuckled, but it wasn't a happy laugh. "I just want to keep the two of you safe."

I sat up and looked at him with concerned eyes. Is this how my parents would feel too? He said for me not to think of him as a father but… Takeharu does care about me. He stood up and seemed to be leaving the room. "In any case… good night Makoto-kun," Takeharu said.

Near silently, I crawled out my bed and hugged Takeharu. "Good night," I mumbled. Takeharu seemed to freeze in place when I hugged him, but after a while he relaxed, turned to me and hugged me back.

Eventually we separated, and we silently went our separate ways. I went back to bed and he probably had some work to do. Takeharu… wants to keep me safe. But I need to know more than anything what happened that night.

I went back to sleep, unable to dream. But I wasn't crying like before, so that was a step forward, right?

When I woke up the next morning, I ran into Mitsuru on the way to the dining hall. "Makoto-san," she started. "May I call you that?"

"Um… you don't have to use 'san' or 'kun'," I mumbled back.

She seemed taken aback, knowing the familiarity it implied. Mitsuru managed to recompose herself though. "Makoto… you are able to use a Persona. Am I correct?"

"Uh… yeah. I don't really know much about it though," I replied. "You can use one too, right?"

"I have the potential. But I don't know how to summon it at all," Mitsuru said. She didn't seem to be very happy about that fact. "However, from what I have been hearing… father said that tonight they were going to try and train us to be able to use our Persona."

"He did?" I blinked owlishly. Did he do it because he knew that both of us wanted to fight against the Dark Hour?

"Yes," Mitsuru nodded. "But perhaps we can talk this over at breakfast. Seeing as you are technically my brother… you may call me Mitsuru." She seemed uncomfortable saying that. Maybe she wasn't used to anyone else but Takeharu calling her by just her name?

"Okay then… Mitsuru," I said, testing out how it sounded. It sounded pretty natural to me. I wondered why, but I remembered that I was hungry too. The two of us made our ways downstairs and entered the dining hall together. Takeharu was there, seemingly waiting for us.

We both sat down together, our plates of food being put down by a butler. "I see you've already met," Takeharu said, seemingly having an amused smile on his face. We both didn't say anything. Mostly because I think we couldn't think of anything to say. "I think Mitsuru might've already told you… but tonight you're both going to start training to summon your Persona. Aigis will be there to help the two of you. For now you two will use the training facilities near Tartarus. We cannot have the two of you going into the tower until you feel confident about your ability."

"I understand," Mitsuru nodded.

"Hm." Takeharu began walking to the door. "The two of you should get to know each other. You will be fighting the Shadows as a team, along with Aigis. It is imperative that you all trust and know each other well." With those last words, he left.

"Get to know each other…" I mumbled.

"Makoto… do you have any idea why father changed his mind?" Mitsuru asked. "They had discovered my potential before, but he had always said that he wished for me to stay away from such matters involving my ability and the Shadows. He was stubborn before…" A small smile creased her lips. "So, I never thought he'd encourage us now."

"I… I'm not really sure to be honest. But… I guess I'm happy about it. I wanted to find out more about the Dark Hour… and maybe stop it, if I could," I said. "Maybe thought it would be better if we could do what we wanted to, instead of what we were being forced to."

"Is that so…?" Mitsuru seemed in thought. While she thought, I started to eat. Did I mention already that it was difficult to use a spoon and fork together? I was used to using chopsticks myself, but apparently they wanted us to eat with a spoon and fork instead. I didn't know why.

"Um, are you going to eat?" I asked, after I saw she'd been thinking for a while.

Mitsuru turned back to me, surprised out of her thoughts. "Oh. Of course," she replied, starting on her egg.

"Isn't it hard to eat with… a spoon and fork?" I asked, struggling with the utensils. I was almost starting to give up.

"Really? I never thought of it as a problem," Mitsuru replied. Oh darn it, I couldn't deal with this. I ended up shuffling the egg and bacon onto the toast, and sandwiching it between with another piece of toast. Then I started eating all of it like a sandwich. That was so much easier. "W-What are you doing?" she stammered.

"I made a sandwich," I replied simply, wondering what could be so unusual about it.

She looked curiously at it. Did she not eat sandwiches? Mitsuru mimicked how I put the egg and bacon on the toast and pressed the two pieces of bread together. She tried to eat from it and… "This is much easier…" Mitsuru mumbled.

"Right?" I agreed.

After a while, the two of us finished eating. Mitsuru had tutoring to do… come to think of it, I did too. We finished at about the same time. My tutor was starting to teach me things that I hadn't in advance. So if I did go back to school, I'd be ahead of everyone else. I remembered before that my parents sometimes scolded me because I always got only above average test marks, or even lower for some other subjects. But now… I was starting to think that I could become that smart kid who always got 100 per cent for their marks. Would they be happy about that?

At night, we were driven to the laboratories. We saw Aigis waiting for us at the front, and she led us inside. "What are we going to be doing?" I asked.

"You must learn how to summon your Persona," she replied. "We have other measures in place if summoning by will is too difficult."

"Other… measures?" I blinked. It sure didn't sound very inviting when she put it that way.

"You shall see," Aigis said. After a while, we reached a dark hall, only dimly lit by a few lights scattered about the walls which seemed to be made from a really sturdy, thick kind of metal. It was separated from the rest of the building with a large, mechanical door. I didn't know for what reason, but we were soon to find out. "Be on guard."

"Uh… okay," I said nervously. I looked to Mitsuru. She didn't seem like she wanted to say anything, but… surprisingly enough she seemed to be shaking. It was very slight, so I didn't notice it the first time.

"Personas are more likely to be awakened when the user is put in situations of extreme stress," Aigis explained. I heard a strange clicking noise, and red eyes started to pop out from the darkness. What were they? For some reason, looking at them made me afraid. Something about their hollow gaze sent fear down my spine.

There was a lurching sound, and strange forms started to appear. They came in birds, lions… other things I wasn't sure I recognised. I heard Mitsuru too. She jumped out of the way of a Shadow, and it seemed to have charged at her. "They're attacking…" she mused aloud.

"Shadows are aggressive," Aigis said, and I began to hear the sound of her machine guns going off. "They attack even when they are not provoked."

That definitely didn't sound fun. I yelped as I jumped out the way of a Shadow's attack, especially from its claws. They seemed very sharp, and cut through the air. How were we supposed to handle this?

"In the Dark Hour, a Persona can be willed out," she explained. "If you can concentrate on bringing your Persona's power, then it can be summoned. I cannot help you more than that. But if you have trouble, there is something I can give you that may make it easier. I will defend you from the Shadows, but you must try and summon your Persona."

Neither of us was sure of ourselves. We had to be calm, but in this situation, how was there any way we could be calm? Mitsuru seemed to share the sentiment. She was busy trying to dodge their attacks. My Persona! How do you summon it!? "Change your destiny…" I mumbled, echoing the words of the strange voice from before. Takeharu said before that might've been my Persona talking to me. Could I somehow…?

Before I could finish that thought, I could barely evade a Shadow's lunge. I got out of the way for the most part. Scratch marks appeared on my skin, trickling blood out the wounds. It got me… I placed my hand over it to stop the bleeding, but to my astonishment, the healing glow that I had used before appeared again and sealed the cuts. "Attacking…" I thought, but I wasn't sure how I could do anything.

"There is a larger Shadow up ahead," Aigis warned. "It is powerful. Be careful."

What a warning. I was still trying to deal with these Shadows that kept attacking us. I never was fast enough, and I always seemed to get clipped by an attack. It didn't hurt that much, but it was still surprising. Something else that was surprising? Spontaneous bursts of fire from out of nowhere. A bright light blinded me, and I squeezed my eyes shut. I distinctly felt a strong burning sensation on my arm. I got hit by the fire? I healed it again, but I was starting to run low on energy. The combined tension and pain was starting to make me feel tired.

"Perhaps we should pull back. You both show signs of fatigue," Aigis suggested. She seemed not to be tired at all.

Just as I thought that, a terrifying growl burbled from a large Shadow. The one Aigis had mentioned before. "It has made its appearance," she noted. Her eyes started to glow, with the sound of shattering glass, a brightly glowing figure made its appearance. It was cloaked in blue and had a mechanical head that was fitted with what seemed to be a Roman helmet. "Palladion! Swift Strike."

When she called that, the Persona, Palladion charged forward to meet the newest arrival. It rushed around the battle field, bashing and striking Shadows with great force. Could my Persona be like that? I have to do something! I can't let Aigis keep taking care of me.

I felt a strange pulse race through my body, electrifying every nerve and breaking it into a cold sweat. I heard someone speak in my mind. It said… 'whisper my name.' Whispering… its name. Whisper its name when I didn't even know who it was? It was so confusing!

I jumped from another attack, but the Shadow almost crashed into Mitsuru this time. Was it trying to get both of us at the same time? In any case, I had to block it then. I caught the Shadow on my arm, and its claws left deep gashes in it. I grunted, trying to shrug off the pain. I felt too tired to heal it too. "Makoto!?" Mitsuru ran over to me.

"U-Um… I'll be okay," I mumbled. What was his name? What was it I was missing!? Again, the strange sensation rocked my body, sending shivers through it uncontrollably. O-Orpheus… was that its name?

"Orpheus…" I whispered. Time seemed to stop, and the sound of shattering glass rang out through the room. I finally managed to look up at him. He had a mechanical body in teal, silver and white. His head looked organic though, and it was covered with a red muffler. The most striking thing was the large lyre on its back. What was it going to do with it? "Attack them," I mumbled, not knowing what else to do. Aigis seemed to know what she was doing at least.

"You managed to summon it?" Mitsuru seemed in awe.

However, it seemed to understand my intentions. Blasts of fire littered the room when its red eyes glowed, and that dispersed many of the Shadows that it hit. Maragi? That was the word that came to mind. Maybe that was the name of the spell, like how Aigis told Palladion to use the skill Swift Strike. Another few words appeared. "Swift Strike," I mumbled. It was the same attack that Aigis used.

It copied the same motions as Palladion, who was still fighting against the large Shadow. Now that I had a better view of it, I could see it looked kind of like a Minotaur. It had a bulky, black body, chains around its muscular arms, a mask for a face and large horns atop its head. Orpheus battered the Shadows with his lyre, and bashed the Minotaur's head hard. But it didn't seem to be done.

There were four words that Orpheus gave me, but I didn't know what any of them did. I did hear it say one word before, and I decided to test it out. "Megido," I said. When I uttered the spell, I felt almost all of my energy draining. However, I could see how Orpheus' eyes glowed again. It released a purple orb onto the Minotaur, engulfing its body. When the light faded, it was gone. Its only traces were red strands and black ink.

I couldn't keep myself awake any longer though. I was so tired… and I blacked out.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey guys. Looks like I'm more motivated for this than I thought. Makoto's not starting off small, is he? He doesn't have the Wild Card, by the way. But he can summon from a set of Persona, similar to Persona 2. But uh… they'll have different powers.<strong>

**Orpheus is not standard this time… He can use a whole lot of spells, but not all. Right now, he has Dia, Maragi, Megido and Tarukaja. He'll get to learn a lot more spells as time goes on, but that's what's going on right now.**

**Anyways, plz box yo thoughts and I'll see ya later. :o**


End file.
